Guilty as charged, I too have fallen victim to the dictatorial control that the color pink has on just about everyone who has either seen or is a fan of Greta Gerwig’s new Barbie movie. By everyone, I mean every $155 million of the singular dollars that the movie has grossed in the U.S. box office since its opening day. The popularity and love of the movie is far from surprising considering Barbie’s generational icons, it’s safe to say that just about many girls around the world grew up with or loving the Barbie franchise. It’s uncommendable that the Barbie movie is not just another family classic. The remarkable impact the movie has had on things from gender stereotypes to the countless analogies to recent preeminent cultural and economic changes in our country, say a lot about the morals and patterns still upheld in our society, and the big distortions.

Pink is a universal color, associated with a universal message of femininity or “girliness.” Thus, why the people responsible for creating and marketing the Barbie doll to young girls chose pink as an emblem for the Barbie Image. It would be impossible to count all of the pink wigs, outfits, merchandise, you name it, I witnessed on the streets during the showing of the Barbie movie. Brand collaborations with big companies such as Primark, Alex and Ani, Burger King, and even Crocs demonstrate just how influential the movie, theme, and franchise of Barbie really is. Inevitably everything involves the color pink.

Before the time of the Barbie invasion, there was a period where pink was frowned on. This was largely due to its associations with femininity and overtly- girly concordances. Females are presumably the historically inferior gender, constantly under a scope of harsh criticism and intense scrutiny. Being overly feminine is often viewed as “attention seeking,” and “bimbo-like.” A woman who exudes femininity and girly-like behaviors is viewed as “slutty,” someone out seeking the attention of men specifically (and God forbid she do such a thing that is literally built into the biological DNA of humans). The color pink, having these associations was generally frowned upon and viewed as unfavorable or even cheugy.

The Barbie movie has taken the color pink and given it an entirely new connotation as well as a new meaning to what it means to be feminine, and a girl. Now, wearing pink and being as girly as you can be is cute, favorable, and powerful. A girly girl is smart, the master of the male species and quite fashionable. She is cool, supports other women, is mysterious, sexy and up-lifting. This association and new meaning brought upon the color pink that is translated into the female gender as a whole is a complete 180 from my recollections of wearing pink as a little girl and getting made fun of and pushed by little boys on the playground for being a “girly girl.”

The color pink is accepted on a wide scale now by men as well who previously had to use the excuse, “real men wear pink” to simply wear a color. However, it is arduous to distinguish whether or not this dismantling of the color is for the right reasons or is it simply a bi-product of strategic marketing aimed at sucking every dollar out of the average consumer to generate profit for the movie. With more than 100 brand collaborations, it is difficult to determine this cultural cognizance without recognizing that we have all fallen under the consumer trap. We can’t help but eat this up, with the Barbie movie came this freedom of expression, freedom to be girly, be cute, be simple and have fun. Everybody is wearing the pink, blinged out, tightest, shortest, miniskirt they can find. This is exactly what they wanted.

Via: Airbnb Instagram, Barbie x Airbnb collaboration

There is unfortunately always a catch and this “liberation” came with a price. Not only are we spending money on the movie itself, but all of the brands that partnered with the movie to produce the merchandise that aligns with how the movie is making us feel. I admit, I did pre-order the pink ice-spice baby tee upon hearing about the Ice Spice and Barbie collaboration. This capitalization of women and all things feminine is being taken advantage of yet again for capital gain. Nevertheless, you are always free to do as you see fit, perhaps it is best to ignore these dismal observations and simply enjoy what it means to be a girl.

Article by Emily Simon, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine
Photos by Mia Fyson, Graphic Design Intern, PhotoBook Magazine

Pink, Pink, Pink.